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Integration: Helpful or Harmful?
Sun, 01/20/2008 - 23:59 | Community
A recent EURweb commentary suggests that the impact of integration has been harmful to the Black community:
In America, Black people imagine that they have made progress. The truth is that in many ways, we have gone backwards. Our shining Black future should be to reverse integration, so that we can once again accustom ourselves to living with each other. The best part of integration cannot be taken away, especially if we recollect ourselves. That part includes the right to eat, walk and live anywhere and the right to be left the hell alone. We now have to build upon the movement that halted at the end of the sixties. We need a Black future. To find the best one, we have only to revisit our past.Has integration helped or hurt the Black community?
ACCOUNTABLE: Making America As Good As Its Promise
Comments
I feel the most important
I feel the most important issue today is WORK ETHIC. We need to be more responsible for ourselves no matter what color we are! I just read WHAT I KNOW FOR SURE by TAVIS Smiley and I loved
Good Day. My name is Marcus
Good Day. My name is Marcus Gibson and I am a 24 year old black male. As I come across the subject of whether integration is harmful or helpful, I can't help but think of the bus route I take to work.
I live in Atlanta, GA and I usually take the MARTA (metro atlanta rail and transit authority) to and from work. I catch a train and then a bus which runs on a predominately Latino strip of highway called Buford Highway. The Latino community has just recently introduced their own bus line. As I sit and wait on the route 39, which is now late, by almost 40 minutes, I notice the numerous Latino bus lines pass me within that time. Their fare is a quarter cheaper than that of Marta's. I think to myself that this is preposterous! Not because of the obvious tardiness of my bus but because I only have funds stored on my MARTA card and the Latino bus lines simply require cash. I then look around the neighborhood and notice an array of restaurants, laundromat, grocers and Latino housing. All of which are self sufficient, thanks to its community of Latinos. I think to myself, why can't black people in Atlanta make this type of progress?
It would seem that integration has placed us in a state of voluntary dependency. Of course we have the power to start our own bus lines, which would probably benefit us a lot better since we would then be closer to addressing the issues in our daily commute. But it seems as though we would rather give our money away to a system that clearly does not recognize us as the majority commuters, therefore not willing to change some aspects of the system to accommodate our work schedule. The same mind state, though not as conspicuous, can be seen in our school systems and our businesses. I think somewhere along the line we got integration and community/self reliance crossed, or somehow mixed up. That is why we are the biggest spenders and greatest debtors. For example, we pride ourselves in our southern and african descended cuisines, yet we have no major soul food restaurant chain to this day. Our lack of concern for possession and ownership has led us astray, taking us down a road of financial nonchalant. Yet, we should be so deeply concerned with the progression of OUR money. This is why Indians have taken most of our gas stations and corner stores. Asians are now our local mall and flea markets. Big corporations are our grocers and transportation. We singlehandedly created a musical craft called "hip-hop." Yet the majority of black artists do not control their profits from their talents ENTIRELY. Add this right under living amongst each other....Learning to do FAIR, LEGAL, PROFITABLE business amongst ourselves. Self sufficiency must first be built, and the blueprint was never passed down to us along with the laws concerning integration.
When someone asks a question
When someone asks a question like this, "Has integration helped or hurt the black community?" I can only assume it is someone who has either not lived through segregation or is not black. If you lived during the times of laws that didn't allow you to apply for a job...eat at a restaurant...protect your basic rights, you would find the question absurd. Of course, things changed for the better in acquiring rights that all Americans are guaranteed by the Bill of Rights. But, of course, it is the "best of times, and worst of times." It is true that we battle much in this world now. Drugs are destroying our communities. Much of the problems we see are the results of drugs. The violence. The increase in crime. For the love of drugs...and the money it brings...life has lost its value for some. Their lives and those to whom their evil livelihood. This battle, though, is not limited to black America, it is a problem across ethnic and economic lines.
We have a problem with many black youth appearing lost, without direction. It is ironic that those in my generation had to go to substandard schools, yet we have greater literacy that those who have the opportunity for a first class education accessible to them. Whenever I see youths walking pass me cussing and lacking in respect, with pants hanging below their butt, it is heartbreaking. Such a lack of awareness. They don't know who they are...nor the promise that their future can hold. It is like having a gift within reach, but not seeing it. So many dream of hoops or rapping, instead of science and literature. So many dream of a world with fast money and glitter, instead of one earned by sweat and hard work. The world they seek glitters with the stuff it can buy, but makes no lasting impact on enhancing character and impacting lives for the better. Many have lost their way.
But, since the 60's with the passing of the Civil Rights Act, we have made tremendous gains. I can travel throughout the world without wondering if there are hotels where I can stay. I can walk into any restaurant and have a meal. I have had a career that I could not have had previously. We have come far. Yes, we still have far to go before we rest...but I remember the world before. It was not better.
Today, I saw the beginning of
Today, I saw the beginning of integration (the vote is still early). We are one country that is made up of diverse people. It may be a dream, just maybe as we move forward during this election period this country may begin to heal itself. It really is up to us to believe that we can do this. Put the fear-factor on the back burner, this is the time to look to the future not the past. In the late 90s there was no attack that saw 3,000+ killed, nor a President that stood where the attack had taken place and said those would be brought to justice. Instead took our soldiers, airmen and sailors into a war that had nothing to do with 9/11. That President was elected with the understanding that he would unify this country. That did not happen. Big business has moved hundreds of thousands of jobs off shore leaving many of us to wonder where our country is headed. Now we are faced with a new question: do you want to put someone in who represents the past and special interests or do we want to elect someone who is asking all of us to participate in change? We make the difference, and we can make the change. Can we integrate? Yes we can. We are one America; it's time we meant it.
1968 Black folk across
1968 Black folk across America had enough-Killed Dr. King. We young and old Black folk tried to burn down this house of hate called America. Mother worked for low wages-sat at the back of the bus-couldn't vote-no training for work skills-no way to complain when cops would stop her take, her from her car, touch her in a way she didn't like and my father would have to just sit and watch. Secret not to be told.
Born in the early 50's-Whites
Born in the early 50's-Whites Only was on everything in the city I was born and raised in. Today we have the freedom to leave America at any time. Thank you White America for trying to right a wrong that many of you had nothing to do with [Hippies-Housewives-Jewish Groups and orgs]. We have wealth in the Black Community that if brought together could control some city or states! Creating power zones.
As a white who grew up with
As a white who grew up with black friends, I remember first learning there was a difference in the way we were treated outside of our own community. This was a shock to me. I remember my friends telling me not to worry about it, no big deal, they were used to it. It was then I knew integration had never really occurred. At least not my concept of it.
Integration: incorporation as
Integration: incorporation as equals into society or an organization of individuals of different groups (as races) http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/integration
I think blacks were so focused on being accepted by whites on a "humanistic" level, that we forgot to establish and maintain equality on an economic, educational, and political level.
I really think that century after century of being reduced to less than an animal took its toll, and when we were finally able to live in the same neighborhoods as whites, eat at the counter with whites, shop (spend OUR money) in white stores...it was such a relief to be accepted, that we forgot about the real purpose of integration.
Integration should not have been embraced by blacks to be considered equals for equality's sake alone or to simply validate us. Blacks should have seen integration as access. Access to the resources that whites withheld from us during those years. Access to better educational materials; access to the economic channels that helped them to prosper; access to the knowledge of the inner workings of the political system and how whites used it to their advantage.
If you don't know the purpose of a thing, you'll abuse it. I think we've abused the resources available to us through integration, and we are still suffering from the effects today.
Dear Tavis: I listen to you
Dear Tavis:
I listen to you on Tuesdays & Thursdays on the Tom Joyner Morning Show & nightly on PBS. I enjoy your commentary and view you as one of the leaders in the A. A. community. Usually, I agree with you. I am concerned about the recent commentary involving Obama.
We have to stop airing our dirty laundry in the public. I feel you should pick up the telephone and call him and tell him what you have to say. I have yet to hear the Mormons challenge Romney in public. I do not hear the White women condemning Hillary unless it is a Republican. I feel we need to give Obama the same respect. As well, it appears that your criticism is more prevalent towards Obama. We had 8 years of Bill in the White House and he does not have a positive record for change & helping our people.
Obama is trying to be political & get the votes that he needs. He has a record of advocacy for black folks before running for the White House.
As black folks we are the only group that air our differences in public. I feel we need to unite around Obama and give him a chance. If he gets elected and he doesn't produce then we do not have to support him for another 4 years. But, what is the choice the Clintons who gave us welfare reform, punitive crack laws, and let's not forget the trade agreement that took away manufacturing jobs.
Lastly, I sent you a previous email (to the PBS website) about Bill Clinton's policies while he was in the White House. I feel you need to designate a show to each person's record. Take the time to examine Obama's history of advocacy. Then look at Bill's record of being governor and allowing the confederate flag to remain and the other detrimental policies that he signed.
He knows how to wear glasses and play the sax. But, he is not the first Black president. At the end of the day, he is a White man and that is coming through loud and clear.
Thanks
I am not convinced that we
I am not convinced that we have completely moved backwards. We remain a divided group of people which keeps us from moving forward across the spectrum. This perplexing situation is further complicated when you add in that we continue to be divided. What do I mean? It is not unusual to see the crabs effect (crabs trying climb up and not working together but ending up on the dinner plate). Perhaps the next generation of African-Americans will do better.
We are a great people with unlimited potential, who are torn between reaching out and being designated as a militant or anti-American. Some non African-Americans say we are the ones who are prejudiced. We have to eliminate our own prejudice against each other.
We have it in ourselves to be the best of the so call best. You decide!
Senator Obama has shown that we have come along way. However, there is a fear factor by some older African-Americans and Whites in particular that Senator Obama will not be up to the task as President (remember the crab effect). I teach my children that they cannot afford to discriminate; it plays into the hands of those that do. Something my Dad said to me, we have come along way and have a long way to go. Never let anyone stop you from achieving, but watch your back and play the game. I find myself telling my two daughters the same thing, and added never assume anything. They have been told that they are smart and if they choose, can run for office even that of the Presidency for the United States of America.
Our children are the future, they deserve to know that their skin color is not an impediment to success!!
Integration was not and is
Integration was not and is not the problem! The mis-education of the Negro was and is the problem. The lack of knowledge of self is the problem. The shackles have been taken off of our hands and feet and have been put on our collective thoughts, the mind. We have fought for everything under the sun; the right to vote, the right to an education, the right for free speech and the list goes on. How many of us vote? How many kids are dropping out of school? How many kids can read? We are self destructing! The word integration made all of this happen? We don't know what we stand for, so we are falling for any and everything. It's time! It's time to stand up and be accountable for the upliftment of our people. We have let everybody dictate our course instead of doing it ourselves.
I believe integration has
I believe integration has hurt the black community. Once the integration process took place, as a people, we turned our backs on our obligations. In the area of education we really have not progressed as much as I believe we should have in 2008. The dropout rates throughout the nation are very high and graduation rates are decreasing. Without a basic education the black community will not survive. Due to the lack of an appropriate education all aspects of our lives are affected.
Tavis: I watch your show
Tavis: I watch your show almost every night, until you turn to your rap stars interviews (sorry, I have no interest in them at 66 yrs. old--lol!).
My main complaint about you is that you overdo the "brother" thing--it seems to me that true integration is NOT about skin color, which you constantly emphasize. You might think about that, seriously.
I am Jewish but I don't call my Jewish compatriots "brothers" or "sisters"--my brothers and sisters are the people of this world, wherever they live.
While you preach integration, you actually promote the separateness of the African-American community--whether you laud them for their accomplishments or rail against the injustices against them. Fact is: there are hundreds of millions of people in the world who are treated with prejudice and injustice--including Jews and Muslims and and Christians of all sorts living in third-world countries.
I think you need a wider Christian view of humanity than you are displaying. Jesus saw all humans in this world as his brothers and sisters--long before you narrowed it down to African-Americans. I personally think you need to embrace a wider view than an African-American centric one.
I feel that integration has
I feel that integration has been a double-edged sword. It has helped us to get opportunities, but at the same time has taken some away. In some ways, it has broken down our community. When we separated, we had our own communities with our own stores, neighborhoods, etc. We looked out for one another and took care of one another. Somewhere along the way we have lost that. Some of the young people have no respect for their elders; our young black males are getting killed on the streets by one another. What has happened to us and what can be done about it? As the article states, we can't go back, but we should take a look and see what went wrong and come up with a solution on how we can fix it. If our community continues on the path its on, we are going to lose a whole generation of people and that would mean than Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, Malcolm X, Medgar Evers, just to name a few, died in vain.
We have only to look to the
We have only to look to the example of Harold Washington, Chicago's first black mayor to see what I mean. When he won office, other black politicians faulted him, saying "NOW is our chance, WE have to get what is OURS now." But he stood fast, proclaiming his administration would be "fairer than fair." He was able to overcome MANY inequities, including the famous trash collection problems that had plagued poor neighborhoods, and his legacy lives on. Twenty years after his death in November 1987, Chicago voters, even those who self-describe as racist, report that they DO vote for people NOT in their ethnic group IF the candidate supports issues they care about. And the numbers support that. And as an aside, Chicago is known throughout the world as one of the cleanest big cities...
Harold Washington is an American Hero of the sort we need more of. (Sorry for the multiple postings!!)
Let me clarify. I DO think
Let me clarify. I DO think we SHOULD go back to having LEADERS who are positive and who do NOT tell us to cling to silly ideas of what it is to be black. I heard one man on Tavis's NPR show over the weekend saying that President Clinton calling Sen. Obama a "kid" was akin to calling him "boy." THAT is absurd and takes the focus AWAY from the kind of progress Dr. King envisioned. We need leaders who propose and support solutions to ending the cultural divide we now see in our society. We need leaders who understand that we must be directed AWAY from mysogonistic "art forms" that lead our young men to think it's OK to father child after child; leaders who SEE that the War on Drugs needs to be changed to one in which what we FIGHT is the CAUSES of drug addiction, NOT the results...
In THOSE senses, YES, let's go BACK to when our leaders HELPED focus and direct us in the REAL fight for equality. What we have now is a perversion of everythin gthat happened in the 60's. We are rudderless and steering for the ditch. It's TIME to get out. And we won't until we wake up and realize that our efforts HAVE to be focused on fixing THESE problems...
You know, on one level, I am
You know, on one level, I am incensed by this question even being posed. Kaneischa is so right--we each have to go out and take what is there--and it IS there now. What I see holding the black community back is the constant struggle to say "we are NOT like white people. Our culture MUST be preserved." Instead of focusing on moving forward, taking advantage of the opportunities available to all Americans, we want to fight for rap and hip hop to be seen as art...We do NOTHING except send teams of women into the neighborhoods on Saturday mornings to invite people to our churches in order to stem the tide of men abandoning their girlfriends and children. Our good, hardworking black men are NOT standing up to mentor the lost youth--with a 50% high school dropout rate among black boys. Instead we ask, "did integration help us??" Wrong question. We need to be asking, "what do we do NOW???
Remember in Antwone Fisher when Denzel's character gave the young sailor a copy of the book Slave Community? He DID that to SHOW the young man how a dysfunctional pattern of behavior had been perpetuated to create the situation that had harmed him so greatly. I think we MUST continue to UNDO these harmful patterns of behavior if our black communities are to prosper and thrive, taking advantage of every single advantage now available. Questions like the one posed here today only FURTHERS the idea that reverting BACK to these patterns will provide the solution. This is an area that is very murky. YES, we should retain some semblance of cultural identity, but NOT at the cost of our betterment. EVER. You can be black, Irish, Martian--whatever--but we are ALL Americans, and think about it--aside from St. Patrick's Day Parades MOST Americans DON'T "stick together," DON'T identify FIRST with their ethnicity. Barack Obama says it well...we are One America.
We MUST solve these problems--high incarceration rates for black men, the high school drop out rate for black boys, and on and on...NONE of this is good for ANY American. But going BACK is NOT the answer.
I live in Mississippi and the
I live in Mississippi and the question (Has integration helped or hurt blacks.) Integration means to receive the same opportunities as white. When we received those opportunities we discarded our value system and morals in exchange to trail behind the whites. All that were able to trail close did, and others were left behind. Is that so bad? I'm glad you asked. That is very bad. Why? Because those blacks are treating their people the same as whites. We are a more divided race of people compared to years ago. Now we are divided by Economics (haves vs the have nots). Also by education (Educated vs the uneducated); Crime (white collar thieves vs street or blue collar thieves.) All of these divisions are against our own people and by our own people, and it is all for the dollar.
What about the further of black America? This is a good guestion. Can we restore unity among black America? This is the million dollar question. This is a hard question. If we could restore unity, the future would look better. There are so many black people who are afraid to talk to other blacks. It is as if they have been told don't talk. Then there is this younger generation that runs over each other and older people trying to stay on whites trail.
I believe that a lot of good
I believe that a lot of good has come out of integration and I think that it was necessary, but at the same time I believe that we as a culture sort of lost our identity in the midst of it. I was born in 1970 and grew up in an integrated society, but the Civil Rights Movement was still close enough to where there was still a real sense of pride in the black community. Somewhere in the past couple of decades, that sense of pride has truly diminished. Even though we have come a long way since Jim Crow and segregation, we now tend to segregate ourselves from each other. We move from the ghetto to the suburbs, and the whites are moving even further away or back into the cities where poor people are being pushed out because of the expensive housing that is being built in the inner cities. Then these poor people move to the suburbs, and the blacks who were trying to run away from the ghetto end up having to go even further. It's like we are afraid of each other and we are the only race of people who I know of that don't embrace each other the way that we should.
Even though I was not living during the Civil Rights era, just by hearing my parents and grandparents talk and watching old footage of the protests and marches, I think that I would have loved to have come up during that time simply because black people seemed to have such a deep love for one another, that too many of us don't have today. Back then you could tell that they had each other's back, and that is something that I would love to see more of today.
Integration has harmed the
Integration has harmed the black community socially and economically. Economically when we were segregated...We owned our own stores, we spent money in our communities. Suddenly, socially, it's all right to take the dollars and cents out of the black community because socially, suddenly your black dollars make a lot of cents in the white community. So segregation helped the Negro economy. Integration has been spoon feed to a so called free democracy laced with a little bitter redlining imposing strict lining in justice.
Politically, integration HAS
Politically, integration HAS happened. Discussing whether or not it has been a negative or positive impact is pointless, unless we plan on MAKING it into a positive change.
Socially, much of the inner-city black community has remained segregated. How can we rightfully even wonder whether or not integration has made a positive or negative impact on our culture, if we have not fully allowed ourselves to grow within the integration theory?
The "keep it in the family" concept overwhelms me. It is unfortunately a common thread of thought in our communities, despite discussion and rallies demanding equal opportunities and paralleled standards.
Integration is an adjective. Something that must be DONE. Which would require this to be acted upon from both sides of the fence.
Don't get me wrong, I am not saying that American societies have been waiting with extended arms for the black community to accept their love and compassion...But know that Integration, by intent, was meant to be a way to freedom from oppression and opposition. But what if we are bound by the chains we lock upon ourselves? We must do ALL THAT WE CAN DO, before we place the blame of our own failures on anyone else.
At this point, I would say we have failed the system. Integration has been a success at many levels: in most of our communities we do have the ability to exercise our God-given rights to walk and talk as we please, but have we taken the opportunity to do more? To pursue greatness? Expand our boundaries?
Overall, I think we are expecting someone to sweep down from the sky and change all our our social limits to our benefit...but has it ever occurred to anyone that the only changing that will be happening will be from within? One person at a time, one family at a time, one neighborhood at a time, one town, one city, one state...
Let us learn, become qualified, and then go forth to teach others. Inspire them, and put reality on the table in front of them. But we must start this in our OWN homes.
If there is one thing I know, it is that I am not willing to wait around for change to happen...I want my posterity to be able to enjoy all the freedoms they deserve.
I am torn in trying to answer
I am torn in trying to answer yes or no regarding integration. I do not want to offend anyone who has paid dearly to get us where we are today. I am truly grateful. I do believe however, that many of our Ancestors are displeased with what they are seeing today. Have we been delivered into the promised land only to (1) start complaining about how things are after we have arrived and (2) to also have forgotten from where we have been delivered and (3) forgotten also who we are.
What a disgrace, but a resounding truth, in my opinion, that burdens my heart.
Father, forgive us for we know not what we do!
Yes, the good in Civil Rights integration is clear to see for most of us but, we have failed to remember what we were supposed to do after being delivered. I believe we were called to be in this world but not of it. Instead of integrating as a people, we have transformed as individuals. We have forgotten who we are and accepted who they say that we need to be, in order to be integrated. We have been groomed and polished to look like the enemy…and now, the enemy is me. So, how can we live together when we don’t recognize each other? How can we trust one another when we don’t know who we are? How can we have community when we don’t have common-unity?
Back in the day, when one prospered, we all prospered. When one was without, we all were without. We knew who we were, where we belonged and your neighbor/brother knew all about you as well. We were looked upon as nobodies in our society but we knew who we were internally. Now, we are looked upon as somebodys in our society and we are nobodies internally.
Although I wasn’t there, it looked like to me that we supported one another, back in the days of turmoil, for the common good of all. Our slavery Ancestors and our Civil Rights leaders, although they had disagreements, found a way to embrace the things they agreed upon without tearing down the individual or the common-unity purpose. Today, we kill the messenger because we don’t agree with the message. Instead of choosing one of our own, we now cry, “Give us Barabbas!” No scripture comparison offense intended, but I think you get my point. It’s just my point of view.
I believe, we were delivered for such a time as this. And yet, we are transforming once again, instead of integrating, as the people we were called to be...which is hurting us all.
This is an argument that I
This is an argument that I have been making for some time. I believe that integration was a great idea, but I believe that for us, it should have been some type of gradual change. With that said, I was not alive during the time of segregation. However, I do see how people of that time have a better sense of self. Even when I don't always completely agree with those from that generation, I must say their upbringing was different. I like to think that I am in the transitional generation, the one between those that were young during the Civil Rights movement and those that feel like having "bling" is a sign of success.
Before we integrated, we had a sense of community. Our people taught morals and values. I think it's safe to say that the majority of our lives was spent in school and church. The remaining time was usually spent doing something else constructive.
Once we were integrated, I think we dropped the ball. We assumed that since we would be "given the same opportunities" as whites, we didn't have to continue educating our own. The successful influential blacks moved to better neighborhoods and social networks became more exclusive rather than inclusive.
Because one generation abandoned the task of "rearing" the next, the subsequent generations are regarded as "lost" and "misguided". In order for the black community to correct its wrongs, the generation that "dropped the ball" has to own up to it and not continuously point the finger. How can you expect the youth to function with the same values and morals that older generations had? Those values and morals jumped ship when we integrated. We forgot about the neighbor's kids and almost forgot about our own.
I often understand what Bill Cosby is saying, but instead of using an "embracive" tone, he uses an accusatory tone. That will do nothing but turn the community he is trying to "teach" away. If people of his generation would look in the mirror and ask themselves, "When did this all start? Where did it come from?" and give themselves an honest answer, then and only then will we be able to mend the ties the once bound us together.
What we need is sidewalks in
What we need is sidewalks in Mississippi, better education, and I'm tired of of sleeping in someone else's bed. I can't send my kids to the store without them
walking in the streets; whats up with that. How could we integrate when we can't even integrate with ourselves.
When I lived in Chula Vista, CA do you know that if the bus was crowded and people were standing up a Mexican would summon another Mexican who was standing up to come get the seat that he or she was sitting in. It was amazing the way they stood together. I saw one Mexican teach about 50 Mexican woman how to become teachers so that they could take over the school and they did. Go to Lauderbach or Chula Vista middle and check it out. I would never forget trying to go into that room. They told me that I need a interpreter; it was funny. Here I am in the United States seeing a group of people come together in a way that was up building for their race.
And look at Star Jones and Whoopi; they really have a lot of nerve really. We are the only race who always wants to get in someone else's bed. I say make our own bed and lay in it. Okay you rich black people you have donated enough money, now let's donate some business and don't be scared to hire pookie or shanice, that's your family; and if they are ghetto, show them and tell them what's upl you could do it. Stop trying to act better than each other or talk better
than each other. We could all look good and we sure like to look good. Why iare there no sidewalks.
I was talking to my neighbor the other day and she told me that the government knows we are not going to say nothing, that is why they keep treating us this way. I talked to a white lady down here who I am friends with; she said our colored people are good down here. What the @#$ is going on here? That's all I'm saying for now is we need sidewalks.
I'm about to snap, I don't mean like shot up a place. I have read enough of Tavis's books to know what to do. This white lady came up to me while I was shopping, I was minding my own business, and she says, so you're from Chicago huh. I was shocked to know that she knew I was from Chicago and never met this lady in my life. I responded yes. She asked why are you here. I told her to live. She said do you plan on staying here. I said yes; she responded, but I don't understand you don't have no family here do you. I said no she said well why would you want to stay here. I said I like the peace and she said that is just strange that you would choose to live here and she walked away.
If I hear one more time that our color people here are good colored people I'm going to really lose it. What do they mean by this is it that the black kings and queens down here don't speak up; is that what our colored people are good down here means. It's not time to integrate. I have learned from Tavis that I don't need all that education to make a difference. My friend in Collins told me, girl you could get killed if you talk too much. I told her you have got to be playing with me. She said girl they would take you to the back road. I told her I got family and we don't have to take someone to the back road we could get it cracking right in the streets. Someone need to tell some of the black people in Mississippi to sing this song. I ain't never ran from a ___and I da## s sure ain't bout to pick today to start running. I'm just saying for now we need some sidewalks.
LETS GET IT CRACKING!!!!